Next shares jump as inflation pressures ease

Shares in Next rose almost 10 per cent on Thursday morning after the UK retailer said the sharp fall in the pound after last year's Brexit vote had not pushed up prices as much as feared. Reporting a turnround in trading conditions after a tough start to the year, Next chief executive Lord Wolfson said "Our performance in the last several months has been encouraging on a number of fronts". In March, Next, which like many other UK retailers buys its stock in dollars, forecast that the weaker pound meant it may have to raise its prices by 5 per cent. Shares in Next were trading up 9.4 per cent at £48.48 on Thursday morning. Analysts at Berenberg said last month that Next could be in line for a "Kodak moment" unless it greatly reduced its number of stores and invested more in ecommerce.